Special Days and Special Wildlife
Apologies for the delay in this weeks Blog entry, but Internet charges in the places we have been visiting, away from the main towns has been quite extortionate so we decided to leave it until we came to a larger town....

The weekend after the Hutton's Shearwater work has to be one of the most memorable of our trip so far, not that we really did much =) For most of Saturday we relaxed after such a busy week we were grateful for time just to read, walk on the beach and enjoy the sunshine.

Sunday started off really cloudy and dismal, we were a little unsure what to do with ourselves, Lee however was insistent on going up to the lookout on top of the peninsula from which we enjoyed the panoramic views of the mountains and Kaikoura, we even managed to spot some Dusky Dolphins out in the bay!
We were just chatting at the lookout when suddenly Lee drops to his knee and asked Rachael to marry him! Completely out of the blue! Very stunned, shocked and surprised Rachael of course said YES!
Amazed that he had managed to keep it all a secret and carry a ring all the way from home, through L.A, the jungle and New Zealand! As if by magic the dark grey clouds cleared revealing a beautiful endless blue sky with not a cloud in sight!
We spent the rest of the day in a daze, enjoying lunch and dinner out at a restaurant a real treat for us travellers....

Monday: Still in a daze from yesterdays excitement we waited a little anxiously on the sunny beach for out car to have its Warrant of Fitness (MOT) done at a nearby garage and were more than a little relieved when it passed!

To celebrate we went on a Dolphin Watch with Encounter Kaikoura, this time for free as guests of Lynnette who owns the business! It was a glorious day, bright sunshine, blue skies, blue ocean....and we were soon heading out of South Bay in search of Duskies. We were greeted with a slight swell, the remnants of the gales the area has had recently, and about 300 Dusky Dolphins!
We then spent the next couple of hours enjoying the presence of the amazing acrobats! They were moving quickly, surfing through the swells, porpoising and breaching, doing back flips, front flips and side flips all around the boat! At one point the whole pod gathered around us, there were dolphins everywhere we did not know where to look!
Best of all today was the presence of numerous little calves! No more than a month old these miniatures were flinging themselves from the water repeatedly keeping up with the leaps of their elders with ease! As always we were reluctant and sad to leave, knowing this was our last trip with the Kaikoura Dusky Dolphins...for now.....

After arriving back to land grinning from ear to ear we decided to head off from Kaikoura that afternoon. We drove down the coastal road to a town called Cheviot. Here we spent the last few hours of sunlight watching birds at St. Annes Lagoon before finding a campsite in the town itself for the night.

Tuesday: We returned to the Lagoon this morning, another beautiful, clear morning with only a hint of a cool breeze. After which we started the long drive to our next destination, Arthurs Pass high in the Southern Alps in search of the only alpine parrot in the world and the clown of New Zealands birds, the Kea.

We drove through endless plains of yellow grass, then began winding our way up into the mountains, after a couple of steep climbs we mostly followed the flat river valleys between steep, craggy mountains. We soon came across deep, blue green lakes nestled between the mountains and stopping at one managed to spot another of New Zealands rare native birds, the Crested Grebe.
We continued our journey through broad river valleys that swept up to high snow capped mountains in the distance and then wound our way up to Arthur's Pass Village, the highest altitude village in New Zealand. Here our first stop was the Otira Gorge look out, a good place for finding Kea however so late in the afternoon there were none around. We headed back to a campsite, as we were driving through the village there on the side of the road as bold as brass were two Kea!

This evening we went in search of the Great Spotted Kiwi through the beech forests that cover the mountain slopes. A very cold starry night but not a Kiwi in sight.

Wednesday: This morning we headed back up to the look out and spent nearly an hour watching and photographing a number of Kea as well as defending the rubber on our car from their curious and cheeky advances!

Despite the cold wind and low cloud obscuring the sun we continued our day with a walk to the Devils Punchbowl Waterfall, a steep climb through beech forest alive with Riflemen and Bellbirds, to a pretty spectacular fall.

Again this evening we went in search of the Great Spotted Kiwi, walking for over an hour through the beech forest along the river bank. The forest was quiet, the terrain steep, slippy and rocky, the night dark with no stars lighting our way. However just as we had given up and got back to the car the shrill call of a male Great Spotted Kiwi rang out through the still night! We hung around the car park a further 40 minutes looking and listening hoping that we would see or maybe hear the kiwi again but once more the valley and its forest was quiet....

Thursday: A clear sunny morning greeted us as we emerged from our tent this morning, the green carpeted mountainsides shining in the sunlight. Unable to resist we returned to the cheeky kea and watched them reek havoc with tourist campervans and cars! One guy heading back to his campervan which had three kea on top, says to us "Don't know why they are up there, there's no food there!" Rachael's reply was "They ain't after food, they're after your rubber!" To which the guy's face fell and his rushed off trying to shoo them off!

After a morning of Kea delights we left the high village and headed back down the broad valleys for a short way before turning off the main road and heading up a gravel track into the Hawdon Valley. Here we found a secluded camp ground to enjoy lunch and a small patch of beech forest to enjoy a walk, where we had a wonderful encounter with a very curious New Zealand Robin and Tomtit.

The rest of the afternoon we spent driving back towards the coast, skirting Christchurch and pulling into a campsite in Rakaia, the Salmon capital of New Zealand!

Friday: With early cloud clearing it was promising to be a beautiful day once more on the east coast of the South Island. We drove a short way from our camp to Harts Creek Nature Reserve on the banks of Lake Ellesmere.
Here we followed a trail along the banks of a slow moving creek, the blue green water filled with trout, through a small wood of partially submerged trees to a hide overlooking the lake edge. All the while keeping our eyes open for birds and wildlife.

After lunch lakeside we continued our journey south along the coast and then inland once more heading for the Southern Alps, this time for Mount Cook the highest mountain in Australasia!

We wound our way inland entering the Mackenzie Basin, a huge flat expanse surrounded by ranges that surround the Southern Alps. Continuing on we came to the shores of Lake Tekapo, a beautiful blue expanse of calm waters surrounded by grassy hillsides.
It was getting late in the afternoon, the sun was dropping, still we pushed on. We rounded a corner and into view came Lake Pukaki and at its northern end the snow capped mountains of the Southern Alps, at centre stage Mount Cook. We followed the road along the bottom of the lake and then coming across a pull in decided to stay and free camp on the shores of Lake Pukaki. It was a wonderful decision, off the road we ate dinner as the sunset lit up the top of Mount Cook with golden and then red light. As the sun dropped the reds and yellows faded leaving behind a purple, then dark blue sky reflected in the calm waters of the lake, soon it was pitch black with a trail of brilliant stars cutting across the night sky.

Saturday: A gorgeous sunrise to match last nights sunset, once the tent was packed we left our beautiful campsite on the shore of Lake Pukaki with the impressive vista of Mount Cook in the distance and continued along the road around the Lake and up towards Mount Cook Village itself.

The lake ended rather abruptly, turning into the numerous channels of the River Tasman as it wound it way down from the mountains over pebbly river beds and into the ice blue waters of the lake itself. We turned off the road and pulled onto the shore of the river, scanning the river bed for waders. There feeding along the shoreline were a number of one of the rarest waders in the world, the Black Stilt. It was a joy to watch them knowing how close they had come to extinction.

Back on the road it was a short drive up to Mount Cook Village, a small cluster of hotels and houses nestled in the shadow of the majestic Mount Cook and the numerous glaciers that cover the surrounding mountains.

After lunch we took a walk to view the Tasman Glacier and its terminal lake. Expecting a brilliant white glacier and blue lake filled with floating white ice bergs we were a little surprised to see a lake of milky brown water, with floating blocks of gravel covered icebergs, leading away to a gravel covered flow of glacier that only in the far distance turned white. The information board soon made everything clear, this glacier is actually retreating hence the covering of gravel or moraine.

Next we drove to the campsite in the Hooker Valley, set up our tent in a small sheltered spot and took a walk through the valley, across bridges swaying in the wind until the whole of Mount Cook came into view. It was an awe inspiring sight. The jagged double peak rose up in front of us, covered in snow and ice standing silent against the bright blue sky.

That evening we watched the play of colours on the mountain as the sun set behind us.

Sunday: A very windy night and morning, but another lovely sunrise down the valley. We were a little sad to leave Mount Cook, the beautiful mountain had left a lasting impression on both of us and had to be one of favourite sights in New Zealand so far.

We left following the river and then lake back down towards Twizel hoping to check emails before continuing on toward the east coast. However a rather disturbing grinding noise coming from the front drivers side wheel stopped our progress in Twizel. The brake pad had gone on that side and despite being a Sunday a mechanic agreed to try and fix it that day. Luck was against us, as it turned out he did not have the correct pad for our car and would have to order one in for tomorrow. We were stuck in Twizel, where believe me there is not much to do!

Still it was nice just to relax for the afternoon, reading and enjoying the sunshine.

Monday: After another relaxing morning the mechanic finally managed to replace the brake pad at lunchtime, by 1.30pm we were finally on our way again heading south and west for the coast. We drove through valleys and lakes, dams and power stations until we finally reached the east coast again.

After a little searching we found a gravel road that led to Wainono Lagoon, another good bird watching spot. Here we went for a long walk following muddy fields that gradually became filled with pools of water that eventually formed the lake. Numerous birds were feeding in the fields, along the edges of the pools and on the lake itself, best was the wonderful view of an adult and juvenile Spoonbill flying overhead.

It was now overcast and getting pretty late, so we decided to free camp between the fields and shingle beach by the lagoon.

Tuesday: Woke to an overcast and cool morning, once breakfast was finished we drove back to the main highway, and round to the other side of the lagoon to take a look at the bird life on that side. A much shorter walk brought us to the edge of a small lake at the edge of the main lagoon. Here once more there were numerous waders and ducks feeding, but it was by climbing the shingle beach and looking out over the grey green turbulent sea that brought the best sighting of the morning. Three Hectors Dolphins were surfacing a short distance from the beach up the coast, we watched them as they made their way down the coast, parallel to the shore until they were directly opposite us. Here they seemed to pause in their travels and started breaching clear of the water right in front of us! After a few minutes they then continued their travels down the coast and were joined by two more dolphins =)

Back at the car we continued our journey south towards Dunedin, as we did the clouds began to lift allowing some sunshine to break through. We stopped at Shag Point, a mini peninsula where there are a couple of lookouts for Yellow eyed Penguins and NZ Fur Seals. It was very very windy on this headland, the blue grey ocean whipped up into a tempest of white caps with waves crashing against the rocky shoreline. Standing at the lookouts being buffeted this way and that by the wind we saw one solitary Yellow eyed Penguin (the rarest penguin in the world) huddled against the shore, numerous Fur Seals lounging on huge rocks off the coast that were also covered with Stewart Island Shags (found only along the south eastern coast of South Island)!

Early afternoon we arrived in Dunedin and after a few errands in the busy city itself we made our way out onto the Otago Peninsula and back into the low lying cloud. Our first stop on the peninsula was Sandfly Bay where there is a hide to view Yellow eyed Penguins coming ashore in the evenings. We made our way down a huge sand dune onto the beach, battling against the fierce wind that blew sand into our faces as well as whipping spray from the tops of waves back out to sea. It was a wild wind swept, beautiful beach. We made our way along the beach to the far end where the hide is located, almost walking into a slumbering Hooker Sea Lion that was almost covered in sand!

We watched from the hide has six Yellow eyed Penguins come in from the pounding surf and waddle up the beach to the rocks and steep grassy bank, two of them then hopped up this steep slope!

As the sun began dropping below the low cloud, sending golden light onto the beach we made our way back along the beach and then struggled up the loose sand of the dunes. It had been a wonderful couple of hours, a wild wind swept beach in the presence of the rarest penguin in the world and the rarest Sea Lion in the world!

Wednesday: Low, misty clouds obscured the whole of the peninsula, the wind howled through our tent and it was a rather grey, dismal day. However today we aimed to go and visit the Royal Albatross colony at Tairoa Head, and if there is one thing Albatross love and that's wind!

The colony is the only mainland colony of Albatross in the world and the most easily accessible, still you have to go as part of an organised tour, which is good as it certainly reduces disturbance to these birds.

After a very informative talk about the colony we walked up the slope to the observatory where we spent half an hour watching 4 big, white fluffy chicks huddle against the wind swept headland, and two adults come soaring over head. Although only 4 nests are on view this year there are 23 chicks that all look good for fledging towards the end of the year.

This afternoon we drove to Allan's Beach via the muddy inlet of Hooper's Inlet, here while stopping to photograph a Pied Stilt we spotted 3 Chestnut-breasted Shelducks, yet another New Zealands rare native birds!

Allan's Beach was another wild, windswept beach, with sand and spray being swept away by the ferocious wind. We walked a short distance to rocks at the closest end of the beach which provided a little shelter from the wind and here we found another lone Yellow eyed Penguin that was moulting and did not seem too bothered by our presence allowing us to get quite close to take some photos =)

The low cloud seemed to close in reducing the visibility to the point we could no longer see the far end of the beach, we decided to head back to the camp. Not before spending a little while watching 13 Royal Spoonbill feeding close to the road along the Hoopers Inlet.

Thursday: Another dull, dismal, drizzly day. We can not see the hill tops of the peninsula and the wind still as strong. We would normally have moved on, continuing our tour of the south island, however tomorrow Lisa is arriving in Dunedin to spend a few days with us so we are going to wait on the peninsula for her to arrive.

After a morning of reading we drove the short distance to the NZ Marine Studies Centre and Aquarium, the only 'indoor' activity we have been able to find.

A small but very informative aquarium it was great to see up close some of New Zealands marine inhabitants and learn about the research that goes on. Our favourite had to be the Seahorses =)

Hoping the weather may have cleared up when we came out if anything it was even worse, so we spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing at the campsite, at least here it was warm and sheltered. =)